Back in the US of A

When I awoke last Thursday to the news that terrorists were planning on exploding planes somewhere over the Atlantic, I was obviously concerned about how this would affect my planned trip back to the USA the following Tuesday. My feelings of dread were not abated by the unending panning shots of giant tents surrounding the arrivals lounge at Heathrow which the BBC news were continually showing.

The fact that I was flying with British Midland turned out to be a saving grace, but the woman on the end of the phone "helpline" was really quite unhelpful, telling me that I wouldn't be allowed hand luggage at a time when every other media source had announced that the rules had just been changed. Although she did tell me at one point that "all the flights on Tuesday will be on time". Obviously got a good crystal ball there then.

On the day of the flight, things started out not in the smoothest manner, since my alarm did not go off (or I slept through it, we will never know which) and I awoke over an hour late, 15 minutes after my planned leaving time. However, other than that, I have to say that the journey was one of the smoothest I have ever made. I got through security faster than ever before, my laptop (in it's conveniently sized 45cm x 35cm x 16cm bag) had a whole overhead cabin to itself and best of all, no-one tried to blow up the plane.